"Ultima Thule is the terrible yet fantastic story of European and American exploration in the Polar regions. Thirteen extraordinary men and expeditions preceded author Jean Malaurie to the North Pole. Based on excerpts from these explorers' logs counterbalanced by Inuit testimony, this book brings to life both sides of the clash between indigenous people and the white men who arrived in the Far North dreaming of Polar conquest, and believing they brought with them a superior civilization. Over the intervening 170 years, tensions have continually risen and fallen as new waves of Europeans encounter the native Inuit. Today, the outlook for the Inuit and for the Polar environment is bleak: both the people and their landscape are in danger of disappearing forever. But according to Malaurie, the situation is not without hope." "Using original travel accounts and a stunning array of period photographs, engravings, artifacts, maps, and drawings, Malaurie paints a richly detailed portrait of an intersection of cultures and fantasies. This beautifully produced book, an international success now available for the first time in an English translation, puts an entire museum of North Pole history in the reader's hands, illuminating a little-known world."--Jacket.